Cambridgeshire Contractor Fined

A contractor from Sawston has been fined £3,500 and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs after one of his workers was buried alive.

The employee was in a trench carrying out groundwork when the sides caved in at a site near Brinkley in October 2007.

A court heard that while the worker was in the trench, the sides collapsed, burying him completely.

The emergency services were called and he was pulled out of the trench alive, suffering a broken leg.

58 year old Anthony John Melvyn Hill, of Plantation Road in Sawston, was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety at work act 1974 and the Construction Regulations 2007.

Norman Macritchie, principal inspector for the health and safety executive, said: "This worker suffered a broken leg and bruising, and was incredibly fortunate to survive the horror of being buried alive.

These types of easily preventable accidents are all too common and often prove fatal, so it is absolutely essential that employers and contractors ensure they have measures in place to protect their staff ."